Spectre

Alright, if I understand correctly you would like your image(s) to fit inside a preset space which isn't a regular shape. Say for example your template or outline is a star like the one here: And let's say you want the below image to fit in that star or be bordered by it In order for your image to "fit" inside this border (it can be any border for that matter) Proceed with these steps: Open your template or border file by using "Ctrl+O" Open the image you wish to use with your template in the same manner In your opened image file, select the entire image with "Ctrl+A" then use "Ctrl+C" to copy the entire image to your clipboard. Now, in your opened template file, use "Ctrl+Shift+V" to paste your image into a separate layer which should bear the name Layer 2 (after this step we will only be working in the template file) In the Layers window, select the Background layer (the one with your template) In the Tools window select the Magic Wand (fourth down from the top left). Now, click any area outside the template border. In the Layers window, select Layer 2 (the one with your image) Hit the "Delete" button on the keyboard to erase the area that has been selected and voila! The final result would look like: There are other alternatives than keyboard shortcuts such as using the icons in the available windows or from the drop down menu at the top but in order to limit the confusion I attempted to explain with commands that are common within most software. If this didn't help, wasn't clear enough, didn't work or if it wasn't at all what you meant from the start the let me know and we'll see what we can do Cheers mate EDIT: Pdnnoob posted his response as was writing this. Both replies are in essence the same response to the original question so let's hope we got it right haha

I'm not exactly sure I understand your question/request Keith. Can you elaborate on: What size is the template (is it inches, centimeters, pixels...)? Are you trying to incorporate several images onto ONE template and if so are all images the same size? I'm assuming your template isn't square or rectangular but surely the paper you'll be printing on is no? Wait a second...is this some sort of twisted riddle on your part hmmmmm.

Your perfume bottle is in one word: stunning I for one am eons away from having the patience and know how to produce such a result so trust me there's no reason to be hard on yourself. I only wish the image were slightly bigger (not talking about the thumbnail of course) to truly appreciate the degree of detail in the glass. Lovely colors and masterful refraction as Welsh previously stated. The faux diamond cap (I hope it's not a real diamond otherwise nobody would be able to afford that bottle haha) is also cleverly detailed. My only real critique is perhaps the bow. Don't get me wrong, in itself it looks amazing. And, while the sides aren't symmetrical, I feel that perhaps the length or height (or maybe both) could be a little more nuanced on either side to give a less mirrored and more natural feel. Other than that, I'd say that if I were in the business of bottle fragrances that I would want someone like you designing my bottles

Indeed you did and personally I'm glad you felt the same way about the outline as I find the revised version flawless. And you're quite welcome my dear. Commenting your art is a pleasure

Lovely start to your gallery Xia. I must say so far that the "Be Safe Online" one is my fav. I'm sensing a knack for pixel oriented art which is something refreshing to see. Gorgeous looking husky as well; those eyes really pop. As for your Sonic picture, I must say the concept is neat. Add a SEGA billboard or neon lights at the top and I'd swear I'm staring at their corporate headquarters. However, might I suggest for future takes at blending an object with a surface to take a glance at the "Improved Grafitti Technique" tutorial published by Dynojuggler. A good use of Alpha Displacement Mask can really make the difference between an overlaid image which falls flat and one that hugs all the curves and crevasses of your background element. To further illustrate this I'd invite you to analyze THIS example. Notice how the image of the scale follows the contours of the red curtain. Mind you however that to achieve a similar result, the "mask file" (as the tutorial describes) needs to have sharp contrast values or in other words the right combination of shadowed and brighter areas. It's not always obvious to lay hands on the right tutorial without sifting through a good deal of them so I thought this might point you in a sort of general direction. In the meanwhile, keep experiment and familiarizing yourself with all PDN and the forums have to offer. Good work thus far Cheers

Added "The One" to the gallery

Beckoning Light (or the orange glossy ball as others have referred to it) looks real nice Helen. Crisp with just the right amount of fade/blur. I especially like the particles or sparkles scattered in the sphere. Because there's no discernible light source I'm willing to accept the random reflections as part of the "luster" of the image. I do feel however that they gray outline is perhaps unnecessary and detracts a tad from the otherwise realistic feel of the pic. But in any case, that's a matter of interpretation and the vision behind the product. In short, well done indeed my dear

Jaybeemz strikes yet again with some beautiful images I'm starting to think that you at least at some point aspired to be a comic book or some other type of professional artist in your life because you work definitely looks the part my friend. You keep showing great imagination and good overall grasp of lighting, color and saturation. Very fond of that "airbrush" feel that you give your images btw. And, as noteworthy as your vehicle renditions are, what I mostly appreciate is your character art as it really carries a personal flavor that I can't say is like anything I've really seen before. I can easily imagine your style used in a satirical manner while on the flipside it could also carry a more serious tone. I would be really really curious to see you make an entire set piece someday, more precisely two or more people with complete backdrop etc.. And in the meanwhile, just keep doing what your doing jay. Cheers

Very fiendish looking sports car. I drew non stop until the end of high school and I was never able to master a car like you've shown here. What I especially admire aside from your obvious artistic talent is your seamless and consistent use of shading/lighting in all your pics. Hand drawn images (or any other type for that matter) can often fall flat due to irregular or simple non existent shading and you seem to have a fairly decent grasp on it so coodos my friend. At the risk of sounding picky however, I did notice that on the Audi that you added what I'm supposing are treads on the front tires but not the back one. And...the woman holding the champagne bottle has four fingers that are practically all the same length. Those two tiny points aside, there's not really a single thing to get fussy about as your offerings are so far all very impressive and seem to carry your own signature style. Already looking forward to more from you good sir.

Lovely gallery in general sir. I especially enjoy your PDN hybrid images. All very crisp and clean looking. Great sense of depth creation. Almost feels like I'm wearing 3D glasses. Nice color usage as well and the variety of shapes and design from one image to the next is equally pleasant. Keep up the good work my friend

Thank you all sincerely for taking a peek at the fruit of my efforts. Your feedback thus far has been very encouraging and really makes a person/artist feel appreciated and supported so again thank you. Definitely right about the tutorials as well as the generosity of fellow users. I've gone through quite a few tutorials actually and their range and applications sometimes astound me. When stuck on how to produce a certain look of effect I've rarely been left stranded without an answer. In addition, the vastness of Paint.NET's capabilities truly shines through with the grasp more advanced users show with the complexity and effectiveness of their tutorials. You ma'am are too kind @welsh (and HELEN) There's now denying that what I've show so far tends to big very "busy" so to speak. Of course, the most difficult challenge is from a creative perspective. Wanting to incorporate certain elements that are crucial to the design and meaning of a piece whilst achieving a proper balance in an image is often a struggle I face. I imagine in a some way that because my main focus is working from a core piece and then blending in new elements that I sometimes want to do a little to much in order to separate the final result from the original. Which in turn is something that I happen to find ironic since in many regards I've always been a strong advocate of "less is more" haha. Therefore, duly noted criticism and I would greatly appreciate your input on what I'm working on next. P.S. If any of you kind folk have an image that you're particularly proud of or one that you would simply like more feedback/comments on then please don't be shy alright

Added "Planes of Existence" to the gallery

Thank you kindly barbieq. I may not have the skills and tenacity that others have shown with fabulous homemade creations but I try to put as much though and know-how as possible into all of my renditions. Again, thank you for glancing at my humble offerings and sharing some words encouragement. I will be most likely be posting one (or two) more images in the next couple of days. Cheers mate

Greetings from a fellow newcomer Kamirei Being very picky regarding proper use of the space in an image as well as relative proportions I must say my two favorite sigs are OBSERVE 1 and the BAR CODE one. In reality I can't say there's any of the designs you've featured that I "don't like", however, the above mentionned two are my favs. That being said, I'm curious as to how you added the diagonal black and white lines in OBSERVE 1... Are we talking plugins? Stock Image? Hand drawn? Any method seems possible which leaves my clueless haha Anyways, I defintely can note an artistic flair on your part and a natural grasp of esthetics so I'm already keen to see your future projects. Keep on Painting bro!

@Scooter regarding THIS PIC I gotta say actually "drawing" within Paint.NET is probably the hardest thing to master (at least in my case) and I must tip my hat to you sir for the effort. Even though they may not acheive an accute degree of photo realism every element is easily identified so coodos on that my friend. A special mention for the flame of the match which slightly surpasses the rest by the way. If I were you and had some time on my hands, I'd try to figure out a way to create some dynamic lighting or added texture on the matchstick to give it that added degree of "believeableness" So once again, well done and keep on Painting

About me and my gallery I've been using Paint.NET recreationally since around early 2012. Although sometimes I feel that graphic arts could of been my real calling in life, not unlike many people I struggled to find my way as a teen. That being said, I've rekindled a passion for art (most notably computer graphics) since discovering Paint.NET. Now, I would like to share part of that passion with fellow PDN users and hopefully receive: General comments (do you like, do you hate, is it just meh...) Constructive criticism (what could done better, what could enhance or improve the image) and Artistic input (plugins and tools aside, any comments dealing with the actually artistry You'll find that I'm a very open-minded person and will surely take into account any form of feedback offered. Also, I'm not a horrible critic myself, so if you'd like me to return the favor just mention it and consider it done. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ #1- TITLE) Overloaded added Apr 02 2014 Original source HERE CATEGORY: Games #2- TITLE) Evolution added Apr 02 2014 Original source HERE CATEGORY: Games #3- TITLE) Planes of existence added Apr 05 2014 Original source HERE CATEGORY: Games #4- TITLE) The One added Apr 15 2014 Original source HERE CATEGORY: Film (Click on image for full size) #4- TITLE) The Hunter and the Hunted added Apr 20 2014 Original source HERE CATEGORY: Film (Click on image for full size) #4- TITLE) Road to the Cup added May 24 2014 Original source HERE CATEGORY: Sports Thank you for viewing and hope you enjoyed

Agreed with skull on both those points. The light source is always something important to consider when wanting to add realism or highlighting the right things in a pic. As far as all the elements painted onto the brick wall I'd say you did pretty well. When considering basic techniques for this layer blend modes and transparency will be two of your best friends. Being and intermediate user myself I will point out two things in this regards though: 1) The image of saturn in the top right seems to have its original backdrop still apparent meaning we can still see a coloured rectangle around it. Things that could be done to improve this could be: Using a different layer blend mode Using the magic wand tool to try and cut out the background Using the "Cut Color" plugin to possibly remove the background color (a different take on magic wand's indispensable capabilities) 2) The image/object over the word "knowledge" is very hard to make out and unless it's meant to be something abstract it creates a distraction. Honestly, my closest guess is kanji but otherwise I'm lost. Also, the boy on the left has various degrees of texture which don't necessarily compliment each other quite well. For instance, the hat, vest and sneaker are all devoid of any real "pop" while the pants, hoodie and face seem more textured and layered. It gives the first three elements a sort of drawn-on feel. Also, considering the general lighting on the image, they stand out a bit too much. Darkening them a couple tones might do the trick. My general advice to sum it all up would be that when making a collage of different images, is imperative to make sure they all work well together. The lighthing, realism and proportions must all be taken into account. If art is in your soul then you'll keep reading suggestions/tutorials in this forum, find the optimal use for your plugins and ultimately produce beautiful art. Cheers friend

@Skullbonz Very cool. Looking at the flower it's almost hard to tell that it evolved from the pic on the left. Tell me though, did you strictly use plugins to generate that image or did you have to draw anything? Either way, I'm impressed. Had I set out to transform a skyline with virtually no clouds into a gorgeous flower I probably would of given up halfway through in despiration to find the right plugin combinations. Out of curiosity, did you remember roughly how many you used? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While I'm here I'd like to post my own creation. ****EDIT**** Moved to Spectre's Gallery

*facepalms* ok, now i feel like a bigger noob than i actually am lol. The answer was in front of me the whole time. Thank you kindly Pyrochild

Hello, this is my first post in the forums and before getting started i'd like to quickly thank Mr. Brewster who created such an intuitive program and to all the individuals who have bettered it with their brilliant contributions (notably plugins). That being said, I've been using Paint.NET for perhaps 2 months now and there are still certain plugins/features that I'm getting used to or haven't completly grasped their functionning or potential yet. I have however noticed a few different plugins regarding transparency and have yet to stumble upon one that would allow to make an image or selection gradually transparent (somewhat like in the picture below). Does such a plugin exist and have i simply missed it or otherwise (for those who have more experience with creating plugins) is it's feasibility realistic? If not, is there a method to acheive this kind of effect by using a combination of effects? Thanks you for your attention on the matter